Pages

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Are you wondering how to prevent apps from accessing your iPhone's microphone? Then you have to go through this post.

Recent times, the biggest concern while giving any apps with full access is PRIVACY. Apps with full permission can able to access your personal information that you would never want to share with anyone. The only way to stop getting things worse is to take them into your control.

Knowing about your personal information can make some companies into billionaires. So, here is the article on "How to Prevent Apps from accessing your iPhone’s Microphone?”

In present days, privacy is becoming a more and more important aspect. And, when it comes to providing security, Apple has always been applauded for their privacy settings. Where Android is still lacking behind, because of its ease of developing the applications by almost anyone and update them to the Play Store.

Now if you want to know about How to Prevent Apps from accessing your iPhone’s Microphone? then you can do that with the help of these useful steps in this post.

How to Prevent Apps from accessing your iPhone’s Microphone?

Here is the step by step procedure to follow in order to limit the access to applications that use your microphone.

1. Open the settings app from your home screen menu.

2. Locate and tap on "Privacy" option.

3. You will find an option called "Microphone".

4. Click on the Microphone.

5. All the applications will be listed one by one.

6. Toggle the button to Off for whichever application you want to prevent accessing your microphone.

Wondering what's the big deal in switching off your microphone access to few applications?

For example, there are many applications like Whatsapp, TikTok and more.. that uses your microphone to send messages and record your voices.

There won't be much of a deal with well-established applications, as they might maintain some strict rules and will not misuse your voice data.
But, all companies will not be the same and you will end by paying much loss by providing full
access to those applications. Well, we are not against the usage of different applications, but keeping present technology in mind, privacy is all that matters the most.

1. Stop Giving Microphone Access to Apps:

For the very first time when you download and use an application, it will ask you to grant access to your Smartphone’s microphone. While it makes some sense to do it for apps like WhatsApp, but it may not be necessary for a few apps that seem to have more risk factors. If an application asks you for access to the microphone, click on "Don't Allow". Don't worry, even if you do provide access to any application, you can always go into the settings and remove access whenever you want.

We have to remember that stopping the complete access for an application might break its functionality to perform its fullest. For example, if you are using the Amazon application, if you limit microphone access, the voice search feature wouldn't work. If this is your main concern, you can always re-enable microphone access by repeating the steps mentioned above.

2. Disable 'Hey Siri' Feature:

Not all applications will appear on the same "Microphone" window. Applications like Siri will not show up in those settings and you will need to turn it off using the below steps.

If you want Siri to stop listening for the "Hey Siri" voice all the time, you need to manually disable the feature.

Remember, Siri will use your microphone only when you turn it on, it won't actively listen to all your voices in the background.

3. Virtual Assistant:

As, Virtual assistants are becoming popular and handy, but we should remember that they’re always listening. Almost all the applications are providing access to either voice search or voice controls. Yes, definitely they make life easy, but one thing we should not forget is that they are active and can track all our voice data. Question yourself as what happens to the audio files they gather?

Like we mentioned before that Apple's biggest strength is the security. Apple has the right to fire a developer’s account promptly upon notice for engaging in outlawed behavior, including but not limited to misusage of user data. Even though Apple provides the uttermost security, they stated that they cannot monitor what developers do with the user's data that they have collected, or cannot prevent the onward transfer of data collected.

Also, all the applications are screened thoroughly before they appear on the App Store. But still, Apple will not take any risk and wants to offer their customers an option to disable the access to your iPhone/iPad’s microphone.

Conclusion:

And there you have it! Mainly remember that even when you gain full control over the applications you want and set your app permissions the way you like them, the damage can still be unsure about what the third party application developers will do with the info they collect. People will not take this into big notice, because we will not see something very serious so often.

But when it does, the thing will become worse than what we can imagine. So, the safest way to be aware of is not to download applications you don't trust. Many young people nowadays try almost all the applications as they are curious to know what all the applications offer irrespective of popularity. This might cause all the damage in the future, as data is what all that matters us the most on the internet.

Silicon Valley features the largest tech giants in the world, and many of these companies offer group tours to their campuses. Be it the famous Google campus or Facebook campus or computer history museum, group tours to these big tech campuses have always topped one's bucket list, when one is planning to have a tech tour in the Oakland area. Now, when you are planning a solo trip you can plan your trip in any which way possible. However, when you are planning a group tour, you need to be more specific, you should have a clear picture of your itinerary and also you should take care of the transportation bit. For instance, you can go for the Oakland charter tour bus rental. To make your job a tad bit easier, here are some of the things you should take care of while planning one such trip:

Plan Group Tour Transportation:

Now, if you are a huge group, you should go for charter bus services. Though you can also book cabs, it might end up being a bit steep on your pocket. So to keep it simpler and easier, you should rent a charter bus. Oakland charter tour bus rental is one such option which would help you sort your transportation issues.

Highlights of your tech tour:

Apple company story, computer history museum, Google merchandise store, Intel Museum, and Stanford University. These are some of the coveted destinations which one should cover while on a tour to Silicon Valley. If you are an Apple freak, make your way to the Apple store and get your hands on its latest products. If you are more into history and want to know about the history of computers, hit the computer history museum. Also, there's the Android Statute Garden, don't forget to cut a beautiful frame there. And how can you miss out on Stanford University when in Silicon Valley? Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Stanford University is one of the leading research universities.

Itinerary:

An itinerary is a must when you are going for a tech tour. There are certain pointers which you should remember. The best campus to start off your trip with is the Apple store. Post that, make your way to the Computer History Museum. Next comes the Google campus followed by the Facebook Thumbs up sign. Try to complete your trip by 5 pm in the evening. The Google campus and Facebook campus should be a part of your afternoon plan, somewhere around 2 pm.

Book Tours in Advance:

There are many tech campuses which offer group tours. Now, if you intend to be a part of such tours, make sure you do your bookings in advance. The advantage of these tours being, you would be spared the extra effort you would have to put in had you organised a personal trip. Also, if you have your friends or relatives working at any of these tech giants, take their help to organize the trip. Things become a bit easier when you have a friend there, your trip turns out to be a more fulfilling one as there's someone to guide you and your group while you are on the tour.

Plan Distractions:

To keep yourself charged, keep some distractions handy. Over here distraction means games or even music. Plug in your earphones to make your trip a fun-filled one.

These are some of the things which you should be sure about. A planned trip is always better than an unplanned one, especially when you are off for a group tech tour to Oakland's Silicon Valley. You can't afford to miss out on any of the tech giants.

Monday, January 7, 2019

In the market for a good smart watch? But can’t decide between an Apple Watch or a Fitbit? If you are just going to look at price, then the Fitbit smart watch is the one for you. But if you’re looking above the bottom line then the decision becomes all the more complex. Both the Apple watch and the Fitbit are good smart watches but which is the one for you? The decision does not need to be as difficult. Here we look at what both watches have to offer and how all that works for you.

Let’s talk Price with the Apple Watch and Fitbit:

Let’s begin first with price as many will look at this first when it comes to buying a good smart watch. Both these smart watches are not going to come cheap. The Apple watch will cost you nearly $400 plus an additional $100 if you want the connectivity to go along with it. Fitbit on the other hand will cost you $270, which is clearly the cheapest from both. So if price is your main criteria then the Fitbit smart watch will be the one for you.

If you’re going in for design:

Both smart watches have a square face which could possibly be attributable to Apple setting the standard. If you’re one for different color wrist bands, then both come with their choice of color options. The cases of both these smart watches too, comes with their own colors so you can color coordinate the cases with the color of the bands.

The design side of the face of the watches is customizable. You can pick from different designs based on your preference of displaying stats more prominently to just seeing the time.

Biometrics with both the Apple watch and the Fitbit:

This maybe a defining criteria for those looking for fitness tracking. The Fitbit smart watch comes with built in heart rate monitor, which it does continuously, sleep tracking and guided breathing sessions.

The Apple watch on the other hand, not only tracks your heart rate but also comes with a wrist based ECG. The wrist based ECG checks your heart’s electrical signals and how it changes with the level of activity you undertake. You can also use this info by showing it to your doctor. Besides having most of the features similar to the Fitbit, the Apple watch also comes with built in accelerometers, which detects a fall when the user takes a tumble.

GPS on both watches:

Both watches come with GPS tracking so you know where you’re going on those long morning jogs.

Workout Modes with both Smart Watches:

Both watches go into various modes while you work out. For example the Fitbit smart watch goes into swim mode while you swim and gives you stats like number of laps, number of strokes and speed. While you run, the Fitbit watch gives other stats and detects when you stop. The Apple watch also does the same.

Both are good smart watches, but the Apple watch is clearly the better bet if you’re looking out for more features. But it does come with a hefty price tag too for all those features.

Friday, January 4, 2019

Today the number of gadgets each individual has is a lot, to say the least and all those gadgets need to be charged too. Often the charging bit when it comes to gadgets becomes the tedious part. With people looking out for charging areas when out or running on low battery in areas where you won’t be able to get your device charged. So, to put an end to such problems, researchers at Nottingham Trent University have come up with a possible solution. This possible solution happens to be in the form of tiny solar cells that are incorporated into one’s clothes.

These so called tiny solar cells are the size of fleas, which are embedded into your clothes and generates electricity as you move about in town. They are encapsulated in resin that allows you to wash your clothes and do other normal stuff in them without damaging the tiny solar cells.

The Tiny Solar Cells:

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University have developed tiny solar cells packed into resin. These tiny solar cells are woven into yarn which is then knitted into textiles.

The tech has been tested by researchers and found to have a very high success rate. These tiny solar cells were able to charge a smart phone and a Fitbit watch.

Dimensions of these Tiny Solar Cells:

These tiny solar cells are as small as a size of a flea. They cannot be felt by the wearer and does not inhibit any movement when worn. To get to the specifications, these tiny solar cells measure 3 millimeters in length and 1.5 millimeters in width which makes them almost invisible to the naked eye.

The garments used to hold such solar cells are same for all intents and purposes as to any other normal garment worn.

The Big Help such Tiny Solar Cells Provide:

These tiny solar cells will provide a big help when it comes to looking for sockets from which to charge gadgets. Besides this they will also help in reducing carbon emissions and the huge demand that charging gadgets have on an electric grids.

As the number of people using gadgets increases as well as the number of gadgets in the market place too, there is a lot of pressure put on electric grids when it comes to charging these devices.

Power Generated by these Tiny Solar Cells:

Up to 200 tiny solar cells can give a charge of 2.5 to 10 volts and anywhere up to 80 miliwatts in power. 200 solar cells would span up to 5cm by 5cm in dimensions. With 2,000 solar cells embedded into a fabric, researchers were able to demonstrate charging of a smartphone.

This could open up a lot of doorways of opportunity in charging devices, wearable tech and the way solar cells are embedded into all this. Not only will this novel way help in charging devices in an easier manner but will also help in reducing an individual’s carbon footprint as well.